


New Man (a bit of the Sea)

by mayachain



Category: Penny Dreadful (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It, M/M, Morality, Multi, Notfic, Relationship(s), What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-01-01
Packaged: 2018-05-10 22:29:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5603290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mayachain/pseuds/mayachain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Proteus survives the Pilot and a not!fic comes to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New Man (a bit of the Sea)

Recently I watched a few episodes of “Penny Dreadful” and was intrigued by all the characters (go Vanessa!) and, like many unspoilered viewers (I imagine), very shocked at Frankenstein’s (second) monster’s brutal (second) death scene. In reaction to that ending this not!fic came to be:

So, naturally, now I want an AU where Proteus survives OR is Victor’s only revived Creature. I want bouts and bouts of joy as Victor takes him to discover the world, and their friendship, which develops into a relationship as Proteus discovers both his memories and who he now is/wants to be. I want Victor reluctantly accompanying Proteus (who keeps the name for his self in this new life even after he recalls his old one) as he seeks out and watches from afar his daughter and wife, Victor holding himself back *a lot* when he could rebuff Proteus by insisting too hard he not contact them, instead *comforting* him a lot as he comes to the realization on his own that revealing himself to his family might not only frighten them but put them in serious danger from churchy/superstitions people and supernaturals alike. 

I want them to work out a way to look out for the widow and her little girl, and perhaps eventually (as Proteus himself moves on romantically) there can be a little nudge toward another man he approves of (and it’s then left up to Proteus’ widow if she accepts that man). They seek long and hard for connections who woman and girl will benefit from that are far away from Proteus’ and Victor’s life as it is now – someone Vanessa once came across, perhaps, *not* anyone Brona knows, an acquaintance Dorian finds beyond boring but will be helpful in this case, perhaps even Victor’s own estranged family.

I want Proteus to form friendships with the apparent “team”, I want him to be a beacon of morals, I want him to help Vanessa keep her sanity (the insanest thing imaginable already having happened to him), I want him to tell Brona not to be afraid of dying, I want him and Victor to be the bestest always.

(*If* the other Frankenstein’s monster exists, and *if* said monster makes an attempt on Proteus’ new life and succeeds, I want Victor to successfully reanimate Proteus again, and again, as long as it takes. What should it matter if he needs the odd organ transplant? And perhaps somewhere between reanimation 2 and 3, or after the third, Proteus manages to make Caliban(?) sit the fuck down and listen to him, and Victor to confess why his did that abominable rejection/abandonment thing, for which Proteus makes him apologize *a lot* (hey, Proteus has actual experience being a father! Even if he was a sometimes due-to-work absent one! Say his daughter is now…8? 7? Actual good!father Proteus for the win), and then Caliban becomes the Merle to Proteus’ Daryl, or something. )

If Brona is mercy-killed but before that she became Proteus’ friend, then there is no need to reanimate her with the sole motivation to make a bride for Frankenstein’s monster. (Proteus would also vehemently protest making Brona Caliban’s bride, I that timeline where we have to deal with him.) So either she is mercy-killed and stays dead, or Victor and Proteus ask her about her stance toward reanimation and then give it a try for her own sake with her consent. And then Brona’s context for continued existence is a completely different one – perhaps Ethan even knows about it this time around? – and can still rage against the men who wronged her a lot, justifiably so, and even perhaps go on a vendetta against them, but world domination? Only insofar as she is not prepared to take anyone’s shit this time around. (Victor finds her attractive but he’s in a relationship with Proteus, if there’s ever a threesome it’s consensual, also there’s Ethan, what’s Brona’s (would she, who chose this new life, want to change her name or would she keep her old one?) stance toward Vanessa, what did she really think about sleeping with Dorian? Poly options abound, only nobody ever sleep with Murray ‘cause that’s disgusting, fuck societal norms, go (non-destructive) hedonism!

**Author's Note:**

> In mythology, Proteus the sea god was sometimes called an "Old Man of the Sea".


End file.
